by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer
Trump nominee Bill Barr was confirmed as US attorney general by the Senate on February 14.
While his legal views are arguably less odious than those of his predecessor, Jeff Sessions, Barr is just as hostile to the LGBT community.
As George W Bush's deputy attorney general, Barr - together with others at the Department of Justice - successfully pushed for the withdrawal of a proposed Department of Health and Human Services rule that would have allowed people with HIV/AIDS into the United States.
He also advocated confining Haitian and HIV-positive refugees seeking asylum in the US in the same Guantanamo Bay detention center as suspected enemy combatants from Afghanistan and Iraq.
Barr's scholarly writings are also problematic.
For example, in a 1995 article for The Catholic Lawyer, Barr stated that American government is 'predicated precisely' on Jude

NEW YORK (February 8, 2019) - GLAAD, the world's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today condemned the Tennessee General Assembly for introducing measures that would allow adoption agencies to deny LGBTQ families the ability to adopt children by citing so-called 'religious exemptions.' According to the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), about 160,000 LGBTQ people live in Tennessee, with approximately 18.1% of LGBTQ couples raising children.
Under HB 0836, an adoption agency could deny an LGBTQ family the ability to adopt a child, as well as prevent them from pursuing litigation against the agency for refusing to serve them. Also, under SB 0848, an adoption agency would be protected from any consequential action by state or local governments if it chooses to deny an LGBTQ family the ability to adopt a child.
'These measures represent state-sanctioned licenses to discriminate,' said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO at GLAAD. 'This effort

by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer
Valentine's Day ads for the popular Greek chocolate brand Lacta sparked controversy by depicting same-sex and biracial couples posing in affectionate embrace with Lacta chocolate bars.
The ad campaign, photographed by Chloe Kritharas Devienne, featured 28 couples, some of them same-sex ones. Depictions of same-sex couples were used only in the company's online advertising. Billboards and print ads featured only opposite-sex couples.
According to Reuters, the Valentine's Day ads for the brand were the first to feature same-sex and interracial couples in Greece, a country where the ultra-conservative Greek Orthodox Church actively campaigns against LGBT rights, and same-sex couples cannot marry or adopt children.
Kritharas Devienne saw working for Lacta - made by the world's second-largest confectioner, Mondelez International - as a chance to change minds in an environment where depic

by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer
A Trans woman has filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey restaurant, charging that she was fired because of her gender identity.
Crystal Aiello worked at Sicilian Sun restaurant for only one day before her employment was terminated. After her first shift in September 2018, she was contacted by the restaurant owner, Jim Boggio, who informed her that her employment had ended.
'Boggio called plaintiff and left a message stating, 'Other servers did not feel like you were a good fit,' and that she did not need to return to the restaurant,' Aiello's court filing says.
'Boggio fired the plaintiff solely because at least one member of the staff was uncomfortable working with a Transgender woman.'
The suit was filed on January 29 in the Superior Court of New Jersey, a state court. New Jersey, like Washington state, is one of 21 states that protect both sexual orientation and gend

Cascade Flag Football Association (CFA) and Maylon Hanold, Director of the Sports Business Leadership (MSBL) program at Seattle University are excited to announce their partnership starting in 2019.
CFA was founded in 2016 as Seattle's LGBTQIA+ flag football league, and holds as core tenants that building an inclusive and welcoming sports community is just as important as the game of football itself. As a small, growing non-profit recreational sport organization, CFA offers hands-on, real world and highly personalized internship opportunities for students.
'This partnership is a natural fit for the MSBL program as SU's and CFA's missions align well. We are excited about the real-world experiences students interested in inclusive sport and the non-profit sport sector can gain with CFA. We see this as a great opportunity for our students in not only learning about non-profit sport, but also being able to do real work that has a big impact in Seattle,' sa